26 October, 2012

A little shaky, but I'm back home

I made it back home with only one error of judgement on the trains. What I'm trying to get my brain around is the geography of the Kansai area (name of the general area of Kyoto, Osaka etc.). The error I made today related directly to my lack of understanding about where everything was in relation to everything else. But specifically that a train headed to Nara was not what I wanted to be on when my Shinkansen train was to leave from Kyoto! No, from Hozanji, Nara is not on the way to Kyoto.

On the map, I went to three of these blog "pins" over the last 36 hours: Osaka, Kyoto, and the one that looks like it has a red shadow is Hozanji, which is the small station close to where we held the Writer's Workshop. It's up on the side of a small mountain, only 643 m, but quite steep. Nevertheless they've built houses up a good portion of the side of it.

There was a nice view from my room at sunset last night, if you ignore the power lines right through the middle! This view is out towards Nara.

To get up the mountain, a "cable car" train is used. This is what it looks like:-

And yes, it was filled with children when we used it this afternoon. At the top of the mountain is a small amusement park.

Yesterday we went for a walk on the mountain, and I wish I'd taken my camera. Not much is on the horizontal!

Anyway, my thoughts are rambling now and I need to head to bed. Suffice to say that the Third JEMA Writer's Workshop is over and it was the best yet (cliche, I know, but I'm too tired to think of anything better). Tomorrow I will tell you more about my trip and the workshop, plus a photo of the best button I've ever seen in a public toilet facility!

Jamie Jo, maybe you could start your own. That's basically what I've done! Unfortunately when you run it yourself, it isn't quite as inspiring, but I'm hoping that one day someone else might run one for me again...you're right, they are wonderful!

The tIme now in Tokyo, Japan

About Me

Tokyo, Japan

I'm an Aussie with three boys who's lived in Japan for most of the last 16 years. My husband, David, teaches at an American international school – Christian Academy in Japan (CAJ) in Tokyo. I edit a magazine, manage a blog for OMF Japan, and write freelance articles among many other things. Another label some give us is missionaries. Combine all of this and I find heaps to write about.
I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me here: wendy.marshall04 at gmail.com